The present invention relates to a method for inputting Chinese information through the hieroglyphic approach, and the keyboard arrangement therefor. In the present invention, a method for inputting Chinese characters is embodied mainly by making use of the forms, sounds, and meanings of the English letters and the numerals to match the basic radicals of Chinese characters. With the method of the present invention, it is possible to have different codes for inputting each of the Chinese characters so that the frequency of repetition of the words is substantially reduced.
There are several currently available methods with which Chinese information is input by entering codes directly according to the stroke orders of the Chinese characters. Among them is the "Ta Yi Method for Inputting Chinese Characters and Keyboard Arrangement Therefor", in which the numerous Chinese characters with complicated structures are sorted into 237 radicals and the sorted radicals are allocated on a normal English keyboard with the arrangement according to their frequencies of usage. An operator has to remember the various keys each representing different radicals to input the codes of the Chinese characters. The Ta Yi Method for Inputting Chinese Character referred to above has many disadvantages. As stated above, the operator has to remember the various keys each representing different radicals since the corresponding relationships of the keys and the radicals are not regular. In the Ta Yi Method, the forms of the Chinese characters are sorted into more than two hundred radicals and except that the frequently used radicals are allocated on the keys which the operator will operate frequently, there are no definite rules for the operator to follow. Thus, a novice operator will face a big problem when they have first to remember the relationships between the keys and the radicals. Besides, since each of the keys represents different radicals, any Chinese character must be input by entering a fixed code in a given order for the method to function, which tends to cause difficulties in learning and a sense of frustration to the beginners.